Friends

Friend

noun

1. A person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

2. A person who gives assistance; patron; supporter:

What do you consider a friend to be?  What is the role of a friend?  And how do we nourish the relationships we have with our friends?

Friends are the family we choose for ourselves.  We rely on them, laugh with them, love them and cry with them.

These are the people that lift us up when we’re down, celebrate with us and encourage us to be our best selves.  They don’t wish to hurt us and are there for us even when it isn’t easy to be.  They never let us feel forgotten and make an effort to be in our lives.  They let us know we’re special, and they never let us forget it.

The friendships we have often change.  The friendships that are the strongest will sustain those changes.  Others will not. 

As we grow, we sometimes separate.  We find new friends, renew friendships with old friends and grow closer to the friends already in our lives.  The garden of friendship blooms and sometimes dies.  And if we are lucky enough, along with the flowers that return next season, we will see new seedlings ready to be nourished and loved. 

What a gift, friendship. 

True friendship comes

when silence

between two people

is comfortable.  -Dave Tyson Gentry

I can sit with my best friend in total silence and leave feeling more connected to her then ever.  Sometimes, silence is a comfort.  It’s a knowing that your friendship is so strong, it doesn’t need words.

Friendship improves

happiness and abates misery,

by the doubling of our joy

and the dividing of our grief.  -Marcus Tullius Cicero

Thank God for friends in times of sadness.  They lift us up, hold us, cry with us and love us.  With friends, our burdens don’t feel quite so heavy.  And how wonderful to be able to share our joys and happiness with our friends as well!  To know that they are truly happy for us, celebrate us and are proud of us.  It truly does double our joy.

Friendship

often ends in love;

but love in friendship

-never.  -Charles Caleb Colton

Our friends love us, even when we are unlovable.  Friends never stop loving you.  Ever.

The secret to friendship

is being a good listener.  -Unknown

Friends listen when we talk.  They really listen.  They don’t listen while waiting to speak.  They are interested in what you have to say.

Friendship is

a single soul

living in two bodies.  -Aristotle

Sometimes, rarely, you meet a friend or two that you know you’ve walked with before.  These types of friends are soul friends.  There are no real words to describe the connection other then a “knowing.”

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.   -Helen Keller

People are often there in times of joy.  But friends are there when life is truly difficult.  To know that you aren’t walking alone, is a true gift.

True friends stab you in the front.   -Oscar Wilde

Our friends have a way of making us feel good about ourselves.  They compliment us and mean it.  You’ll never hear negative gossip about yourself because your friend is too busy telling everyone how wonderful you are!

Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say.  -Unknown

Your true friends know when you are crying, inside.

The beauty of a true friend is that they look at you through the eyes of hope, not seeing the weeds, but the beautiful flowers that God is growing in the garden of our lives.

The most beautiful discovery true friends can make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.

The best kind of friend is the one you can sit on a porch swing with. Never say a word and then you walk away feeling it was the best conversation you have ever had.

A friend is someone you want to be around when you feel like being yourself.

The gift of true friendship is that it takes us by the hand and reminds us that we are not alone in this journey.  -Unknown

This speaks for itself.

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the

kindly smile nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual

inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else

believes in him and is willing to trust him.  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I feel this quote sums it up the best.  The people we choose to spend time with, the people that we call friend, will inspire us on a spiritual level.  We will feel moved, loved, trusted and have a peace in our heart that says, “I’ve found my friend.  I can exhale and know that I am not alone.”

Hug, appreciate and celebrate your friends.  They are earth angels.

Choose Love.